Théâtre National de Bretagne
Direction Arthur Nauzyciel
Text by Joëlle Gayot / Translation by Jonas Parson
Had you entered the Parigot hall as planned at 15:00 on 11th November, you would have been greeted by Albin de La Simone.
The author-singer-songwriter would have explained the ins and outs of his show Films Fantômes (Phantom Films): the concept of this particular project (to imagine and bring to life films you will never actually see but which will expand, live, inhabit the depths of your mind); the genesis of the project, a long time ago (nearly twelve years to be precise); his desire, as a songwriter with roots in jazz to reconnect with instrumental music; the suddenly essential need to imagine backstories for the soundtracks.
And as he is a playful, cheeky and inspired artist, he would certainly have gone on to explain that seeing as the music and the story already existed, he’d told himself twelves years earlier that the subterfuge should go one step further: why not turn these fantasised stories into film synopses, imagine the poster for each film, invent critiques of the films? All of this built on sand as nothing that you would have heard in the theatre at 15:00 on 11th November actually exists.
Albin de la Simone would then have called musicians and two actors to the stage. Together they would have listed a series of imaginary films, their titles tapping into potential worlds: Cat, a surrealist comedy / A snake in the lake, a psychological drama / The chance of their lives, a comedy of manners / The Sixth shadow, a crime film / Calder’s pack, a thriller / Libertar!, a documentary / President, a political satire / Totem, an adventure-packed comedy and Klounas, a drama film.
The last proposition, Klounas, would have seen the amazing André Wilms appear on screen, filmed walking down the streets of Vilnius and feeling depressed because in Vilnius, according to the grievances of Wilms the maestro, there are no long-legged girls to appreciate from the corner of your eye as you wander through the city.
You would have flitted from American blockbusters to French art-house cinema, connecting the dots specifically laid out for your benefit by Albin de la Simone. Following his instructions, you would have outlined each of the nine scenarios and would have, never leaving your seat, imagined yourself (who knows!) as Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola, François Truffaut, Coline Serreau, Pedro Almodovar or Céline Sciamma. On your inner screen, you would have manipulated tracking shots, long takes, forward zooms and panoramic takes, navigated between exterior day and interior night, always off-screen and nevertheless fully immersed. You would have co-signed with Albin de la Simone the tumultuous and collective directing of these nine Phantom Films.
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Script for The chance of their lives, sent by mail to Albin de la Simone on 9th November.
“1969, somewhere in Normandy. Françoise, young journalist lost in her thoughts, is coming back from London in her DS cabriolet. She’s unknowingly driving on the left side of the road. At the same moment, Bruno, golden boy at the end of his tether, is driving down the same cliffside road, dead drunk. He’s driving on the left to provoke destiny. François and Bruno drive past each other at full speed, on the wrong side of the road. The impact isn’t physical but psychological. Shaken, Françoise turns around to find Bruno…
2010, Paris. Etienne Carreau receives a letter written by his mother before her death”